u/SkepticAzul

Hi.

I'm new to property rental. Our first tenant moved in on May 15th. When I gave them the keys they asked for a lot of things, one of which was to let their visiting family member bring their dogs when visiting. The lease says no pets and then states all the fees that will be due if a pet is found. My spouse and I discussed it and told them that we were willing to amend the lease to allow for a visiting dog if they put down a $250 refundable pet deposit. I also said they could pay it in installments. The tenant did not respond.

A few weeks ago the neighbor to our rent house reported that the tenants have too many cars parked on the road in front of the house and that they've seen the tenant walking a dog in the front yard and that they've heard barking from the rent house backyard. I don't have evidence of a dog so I can't do much. The neighbor is going to keep an eye out for me.

My spouse went to perform work in the backyard this weekend and noticed damage to the AC insulation. I asked him to look around for other signs of an undisclosed animal.

Would you say this damage could be from a small dog?

Looking for advice before I confront the tenant about something that a squirrel could've caused.

My spouse used the opportunity to inspect the attic due to the insulation damage. He didn't see or hear a dog in the house and didn't see any noticeable damages inside, but it was also dark inside.

TLDR: communication issues, doesn't follow instructions, not a good fit for older child. Advice on how to let nanny go with her understanding that we don't want to continue the relationship. She often misunderstands what I say but doesn't express it.

Hello,

I'm looking for advice for letting our nanny go.

We had a nanny for 9 months that left us amicably. We were in a tough situation of having only one option to replace her, either temporarily or completely. I had another option but she wasn't available for 6 weeks. I liked her vibe more.

So we said sure to our only option. She has 20 years experience working at a church on Sundays with the toddlers. Her reference I spoke to said she was good, took direction well, but her flaws are that she's sometimes late, talks on her phone a lot, and doesn't really know how to play with older kids.

I settled for her, hoping for the best, but I didn't feel the most confident in her after the interview.

She's been with us 5 weeks. Her first language is Spanish and she speaks English well enough, but communication and conversation with her is stressful for me. And I routinely converse with non-english speakers at work, I know rudimentary Spanish. She acts like she understands but she actually doesn't. It's exhausting.

My six year old is suffering. She doesn't know how to play hide and seek, or told him she doesn't anyway. He said she always has angry eyebrows at him. She doesn't help him with his emotions when he's upset. She's just not a good fit for kids out of the toddler years.

She really likes to keep things tidy and organized which we appreciate, but I want my kids to feel loved, heard, and happy. My 6yo is about to be out of school for the summer and I'm ready to move on to the person that's available next week. I have trial days set up with her already.

I'm anxious about having a conversation with our current nanny about her not being a good fit. I can foresee her saying she'll try harder or her not understanding that we will no longer need her, ever- not just the day of the conversation. She's a kind lady and I appreciate her working hard to tidy my house when I didn't ask her to, but I'm over it. Can you all give me any advice? I also only see her a few minutes a day when she comes into work at 0600 as I'm leaving for work.

We never started a contract with this woman because I always felt unsure about her.

[Landlord- US- TX] possible damages caused by an undisclosed animal?

Not a good fit